Chuck v The Twilight Zone
by truthseekr
Summary: After the events of Chuck v. Santa Claus, this story explores "Christmas at the Bartowskis'" in . . . "The Twilight Zone."
1. Sarah's Sleepless Night Alone

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

_Author's Note and Disclaimer: I do not own "Chuck," just a humble fan. Here's my first fan-fiction ever. I look forward to your comments and I hope that you enjoy this one possible take on "Christmas at the Bartowski's" in The Twilight Zone._

**Chapter I--Sarah's Sleepless Night Alone**

It was about an hour before sunrise. Sarah blinked deliberately but she was not asleep. She had not slept after pondering all night over the events from the day before. Although battered and bruised, she was not in much pain—her high tolerance for pain had helped the CIA-issued Oxycontin work its magic. But even the pain killers did not make her drowsy, not even now. There were no thoughts of the hostage stand-off at the Buy More, the beating she received from Lt. Mauser, or even her point blank take down of that bad man.

Christmas was not a holiday that she looked forward to. And although there was no outward expression to give any indication otherwise, something deep within her was smiling. She was thinking about Chuck. Her mind was full of him. How had he talked her out of her Christmas funk? That Bartowski charm had gotten the better of her and she had never saw it coming. Okay, deep down she wanted to be swept up and she had even rationalized, albeit fleetingly, what it would have been like to have 'one night of fun' with him. But she had pushed those feelings aside after the night by the fountain. As very capable as she was, it had been tough for her, this handler/friends thing. She did not even know why exactly but he had definitely gotten under her skin. But this was not a rash that needed to be scratched, it was more like a slow burn. What is she going to do about this, she thought?

Before her thoughts continued down a more pleasurable road, the alarm clock blared on the wall. 6:00am. Sarah reached under her pillow to grab the knife she kept there for life and death moments. She knew if she did not get that noise to stop, that that clock would definitely be singing its final screeching note. She simply was not ready to get up and get back to reality. As she reached under the pillow, the knife was momentarily caught on something on her wrist--the bracelet. Sarah smiled for a private moment but then reality hit. Sure, she had never been a morning person but this morning was very important for her and Chuck . . . and their COVER! Her eyes widened with a momentary thought of terror. What would happen if their cover was blown now? She could not even think straight about that ensuing possibility and the effect that it would have on her.

She looked up at the bracelet as she lingered her wrist over her head. She knew what a gift like this meant to Chuck, but she was not going to get lost in those thoughts right then. More importantly, she knew what this bracelet meant to Ellie. Family and friends above all things was the Bartowski way. But for their cover, no doubt Ellie and Devin were going to wonder why Chuck spent the night alone last night if she did not get herself up and over there before twilight.

As conflicted as she was within herself about him giving her this family heirloom, she could not have said "no." That would have hurt him. But what nagged at her was did she really want to say "no" in the first place? The answer to that question made her feel very uneasy and worse, vulnerable.

It had been rough night and she had started to feel the pain with each attempt to raise herself up out of bed. It was a good thing that the knife got caught on one of the charms on the bracelet. There was no way she was going to put the clock out of its misery that morning because her ribs simply would not let her throw through the pain. She gingerly lowered herself back down for a moment and let out a long slow breath. She was glad that after last night's briefing that General Beckman gave her and Casey the day off to heal. Poor Casey, she thought and then she smirked at the thought of Jeff and Lester looking for Casey's toe at the Buy More. Casey did not let getting shot slow him down though, he had been invaluable in helping her dispose of Lt. Mauser's body while she cleaned herself up. He had not asked many questions and Sarah was thankful for that. As much as she had learned to trust Casey over the past year and a half, she was not so sure that he would have kept her execution of this high up Fulcrum agent between them. When they had given their report to Beckman it was explained by Agent Walker that Mauser had attacked her and that she defended herself only to have to a life-or-death kill or be killed decision. She was thanked by Beckman for keeping the intersect safe while Beckman expressed concern for the health and safety of Team Barkowski's protectors. After Agent Casey's protestation that "bad guys don't take a holiday," General Beckman had ordered Casey and Walker to take Christmas off to recuperate.

Unfortunately, the family heirloom on her wrists had made other demands, demands which were in jeopardy the longer she laid there. Well, at least she would get to stay in her PJs she thought. Sarah eased herself out of bed and walked over to survey last night's damage. The beautiful blonde CIA Agent cracked a half smile as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Well, I guess I won't be seducing anyone today," she said out loud as she touched her still swollen bottom lip. She cursed Mauser for the cheap pistol whipping punch that caused those blood vessels to burst.

Not a bad night's work all-in-all though, she came out with all of her teeth, fingers, and toes. Too bad for Casey, he lost a toe to Ned but not before he nearly lost his fingers to the Buy More gift wrapping station. She chuckled.

Then she slowly lifted her top to reveal the source of her greatest pain--3 bruised ribs. "Well, at least those are out of sight." With that her eyes focused on the dark purple choke-hold hand marks on her neck. Now those were going to be a problem. She reassured herself that there was "No job to big for the CIA--that is the Cosmetics Intelligence Agency. That and some particularly unrevealing flannel pajamas with a high neck line."

After a quick shower and upon application of half a tube of some of her best "CIA" magic to her pouty lip, Agent Walker was on her way out the door flannel PJs and all. She remembered to grab the present wrapped in red with a green foil ribbon on it, even if she was having second thoughts about this gift in light of yesterday's events. Hair brush, toothbrush, and all of the essentials, went with her that was except for the cosmetic cover-up.


	2. Chuck's Sleepless Night

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter II—Chuck's Sleepless Night**

Chuck had tossed and turned all night. It was amazing how much more realistic the intersect often made his dreams, and his nightmares. His lack of sleep could not be blamed on the intersect this time though. It was like Morgan had asked him the night before, what do you do when you see your girlfriend do something so horrific that it gets permanently burned into you brain? He muttered to himself, "You can't sleep, you can't think straight, and you can't get past it." He just could not get the picture out of his head of Sarah taking down Lt. Mauser.

Sure, he remembered seeing intersect images of Agent Walker poisoning French assassins and taking out afghani warlords. In fact, until he had asked her to quit wearing that blue ring of hers, the later image flashed in his head every time he saw her. But this was different, he told himself. Was there any way to put aside this image which was now burned into his brain?

He thought to himself, "can't I just talk to her about it?" But what was there to talk about? She has already killed that bad man, lied about it, and it was now like nothing happened. But something did happen. For all purposes, she had murdered that bad, bad man in cold blood. Mauser's arms had been up, he said he was ready to go, and he had surrendered. Nothing he said or did could justify her taking his life? Could it?

When Sarah, not Agent Walker, had said she would never let anyone hurt him, Chuck had no idea she would not even let the man live. Chuck thought, what would happen the next time Emmett took away his lunch break? And for that matter, how many other people had been "taken into custody" by Agent Walker in like fashion? Laslo? Tommy? The pita girl? Come to think of it, he had not seen Scooter since the Weinerlicious was turned into the Orange Orange. Chuck knew that Sarah definitely did not like Scooter. Maybe Scooter's constant eavesdropping on him and Sarah in the back storage room had finally backfired on him, literally. "Okay, well, eliminating Scooter was taking it a bit far," Chuck told himself.

But surely, Sarah had to have a reason for shooting Mauser. He went back over and over his final words with her last night. She had said, "Chuck, it's okay you're safe. I got the Fulcrum agent." Why, oh, why had he not just trusted and accepted this explanation as enough from her? But the fact was he had not.

He wanted an explanation. He needed an explanation. And in light of the day's events, Chuck felt that he deserved an explanation. After all, she was his girlfriend, "well sort of," he muttered to himself. Chuck wanted to trust _and _believe her. He had asked, "What happened to him?" And then, she flat out lied to him.

Chuck thought she really was not kidding when she said to "leave the deception to me." He just did not think that the lies would continue to be directed primarily toward him.

Why was it just so hard for her? Why could she not just tell him the truth? He told himself that he could handle it. He knew that he would not approve, but he was not naïve.

The question that remained in his mind was would he be able to accept her? Frankly, he did not know the answer to that question. He was certain though, that until she was able to talk with him straight about what had happened with Mauser, he would not be able to get past this.

Chuck sighed. He realized that he had better get some sleep somehow. It was Christmas, he groaned. It was going to take everything in him to put on a fake _heart-warming_ show in the morning for Ellie and her awesome fiancé, especially now that he had given Sarah his mom's charm bracelet. Great.

He had been carrying the bracelet around it in his pocket ever since her dad had told him to "take care of her." He had been looking forward to giving it to her and just could not wait. The guys at the Buy More had thought he was just in the holiday spirit and he was fine with letting those yahoos think that. But, whenever he put his hand in his pocket, it warmed him to think about her and what her reaction would be when he finally gave it to her. And her reaction did not disappoint. Sarah was truly the best thing that had ever happened to him.

The whole day, even with the hostage stand-off, had been the best day he had had in a long time and was well on to making its into the Chuck Bartowski all-time Top 10 days, until . . . Well, he just was not going to go there again, not now.

He thought, maybe some music would help him sleep. He put on his ear phones, attached them to the pink iPod on his nightstand, and pressed "play."


	3. Racing To Beat The Twilight

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter III—Racing To Beat The Twilight**

Twilight was just upon Sarah. She knew that she should have spent the night with him. . . to protect their cover. She had planned to talk to Chuck about this last night after her debriefing with the General, but he had already gone. The GPS detector in his watch had confirmed that he was at home. She had tried to call him but his iPhone had been turned off. She thought maybe he had just had a long day and needed the rest. For her part, Sarah knew that she could have used some as well. It was too bad that her thoughts had betrayed her all night. That was no matter now; she needed to get to Chuck's place and fast.

While speeding over to the Bartowski's, Agent Walker mulled over on all that had happened the day before. No matter what she had done to keep Chuck at a distance, he had always seemed to find some small niche within her to grab hold of, fortify, and not let go. She kept telling herself that these emotions were dangerous. They would cloud her judgment, in fact, they had done just that last night, or had they? Whether or not Lt. Mauser had baited her, she knew that that bad man was right. Fulcrum would stop at nothing to find Chuck and then do anything and everything to manipulate and torture him into submission. As his protector, she could not let that happen.

Sarah had promised Chuck, that _she would never let anyone hurt him_. If that had meant taking Mauser down without remorse, and without hesitation so be it. But, she _had _hesitated. Agent Walker was going to arrest this traitor. She knew his value and she knew her duty to her country. But then something involuntary took over. And then Chuck was protected. Sarah's promise to protect Chuck won out and she eliminated the threat. She was not conflicted about killing him. Of course, a bigger threat loomed now if she did not get over to Chuck's apartment.

As she continued to close the distance to his place, Agent Walker's mind when back to the day before. Why did Chuck continuously second-guess her and Casey? If only he had listened to them initially, none of this would have happened. He would have been out of danger and the strike team would have eliminated the threat within the Buy More. But Chuck would not leave Ellie or Morgan. Sure, his loyalty to his family and friends was part of his charm but it was also reckless. At least he had listened to her last night when she had told him to run back to the Buy More. Sarah simply was not sure whether Chuck would have understood the decision that she had made.

Of course, there were times that Sarah just wished that she had someone with whom she could confide in that always had her best interest at heart. She had seen this quality in Chuck when it came to Morgan, his strange little friend. While the CIA psychologists were descent listeners, Agent Walker knew that they always reported any pertinent information up the chain of command and that such reports could have negative repercussions on her cover and her current and future assignments. The last thing Agent Walker wanted to do was get benched, or worse, get reassigned. Instead, she had learned that her punching bag seemed to be a better way of working out her frustrations. Even still, it would have nice to be able to tell Chuck the truth when he could handle it. But was he ready?

As she made the final turn to his place, she remembered what she had told him the first night she had dinner with him at his apartment. In the car she recounted aloud, "I never asked you to believe me, I asked you to trust me." For some unexplained reason, "trust without belief," just never quite registered with Chuck. She knew she would always have a problem with him second-guessing her until she was able to be completely open and honest with him. She did want him to believe her but Sarah knew that she would have to be completely honest with him in order for him to do so without reservation. However, Sarah did not know how he would take complete disclosure. Would he understand? Would he accept her in the same way as before? She did not know the answer to those questions. The fear of the unknown response to these questions made the decision easy for her.

As Agent Walker pulled up to Chuck's apartment and parked her car, she thought was it really possible to have trust and intimacy without being vulnerable to attack? That was a question for some other lesser agent she thought to herself.

She grabbed the gift-wrapped package sitting on the passenger seat and put it in her bag. She had picked it out after their 'second first date' and had planned on giving it to him the night Chuck was going to cook dinner for her. Of course, when the trojan cipher destroyed the latest version of intersect, it had become one of many things that did not happen that night. In some ways, she had been relieved, in other ways it just made things more difficult. As Chuck remained an asset and she was still his handler, those thoughts were buried. She knew that she should have returned the item to the store a long time ago, but she just did not and she did not know why. But something had changed yesterday. When she came back to her apartment alone last night, she saw the gift and thought of him and her. She was alone but she was not lonely. And so she wrapped it up without even thinking about it.

Now, sitting in her car, Agent Walker had second thoughts about the gift. This was NOT a good idea she told herself. But Sarah knew that she could not go in empty-handed. Why couldn't she have thought to get him a nice new watch (with a new GPS monitor in it) or even the new iPod video goggles (so that he could upload new intersect images whenever needed)? She let out a deep sigh.

When Sarah looked down at her wrist, she knew the answer although she would not admit it. The bracelet on her wrist told her that Chuck saw her as a regular person for who she was. Could she now tell him she was ready for the next step, whatever that step might be?

She put the present in her bag. She would decide later what to do with it.


	4. Twilight Dreams Give Way To Sunrise

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter IV—Twilight Dreams Give Way To The Sunrise**

Chuck had finally drifted off to sleep and was dreaming. The vivid dream was not due to the intersect this time. Instead, the music on his pink ipod seemed to serve as a catalyst to bring on dreams of his favorite subject. _Ra Ra Riot's Can You Tell_ played:

_Have I been too discreet  
How long am I supposed to wait  
I think about you nightly  
Oh can you tell I'm losing sleep  
What am I supposed to do  
It's hard to stay cool  
Oh when you smile at me  
And I get nervous every time you speak  
My bed's too big for just me  
When you turn your eyes  
I promise I won't care  
Standing by your sister fair  
Oh baby, baby, baby, baby, please  
My heart sinks to my feet  
What am I supposed to do  
I think about you nightly_

In his dream, Chuck was with Sarah in the castle. Sarah, not Agent Walker, was teaching him how a spy knew their mark. What had been a lesson on reassurance in real life had remained reassuring but about something entirely different in his dream. In the dream, there was no Casey interruption, no Jill distraction, and the 'no relationship with asset rule' was not enforced—it was just the two of them.

He walked in and found Sarah working on some mission details with paperwork in hand.

He asked, "Sarah, I need your help, how am I going to survive tonight?"

She responded, "Well, a good spy knows what their mark wants."

She put down her paperwork, focused on him and continued, ". . . a spy . . . wants you to be under her spell . . . She's going to test you. When the time is right she is going to make certain that she has you, that you love her"

Chuck smiled at her and asked, "How's _she _going to do that?"

Sarah put down her marker, stood up to face him with her hands on her hips. She continued, ". . .when you're most exposed, emotionally exposed, like an intimate moment, say a kiss."

Sarah put her hands down to her sides and moved in closer toward him looking into his eyes. ". . . The moment is romantic, _she's _close to you, _she's _looking into your eyes . . ."

Sarah turned off the lights and continued her instruction. . . keep looking into _**my**_ eyes, don't look up . . . look at _her _lips . . . Now move _her _hair back over her ear."

As Chuck brushed back her hair, he caressed her ear with his thumb.

Sarah focused on him and said, ". . . when you start to kiss focus again on _her_."

Chuck looked into Sarah's eyes longingly.

She continued, "And just before your lips are about to meet, close your eyes."

So close, even with his eyes closed, Chuck could sense Sarah's inaudible _sigh_.

And just as she was about to pull away, the back of his left hand brushed her arm. The short touch was electric and that brief stimulation was all he needed. Chuck pulled her into him and kissed _her_--Sarah. A soft slow longing kiss. His lips lingered on hers for a moment as he began to step back and they both opened their eyes. He closed his mouth, leaned his forehead onto hers and smiled into her. He knew that he had her. And he was right. Sarah responded by moving her hands up to his face and brought him back in. She kissed him softly at first as he continued to caress her ear. Then, he opened his mouth and her tongue eagerly moved in to deepen the kiss. He responded willingly by extending and entering into her mouth while bringing her into him tightly with his arm around the small of her back. He moved his other hand away from the side of her face to her neck continuing his touch across her shoulder with the back of his hand over the strap of her shirt and then trailing it down to her arm. As they continued to kiss, he turned his hand over and with his palm moved his hand back up her arm up to her shoulder and this time he put his fingers under the strap of her shirt and moved under and traced under it to down to her back. At the same time his other hand reached down and under her shirt at her lower back. As his soft hand touched the small of her back, her breath caught. She quit kissing him momentarily to let out a _gasp._

There were no hands conveniently being propped on the table awkwardly. Their hands were where they should be, where they must be—on one another. The pace quickened and became more desperate. He turned and pressed into her and wedged her between himself and the table. While he continued to kiss her, she let go of him to move the papers, and other mission details out of the way. He lifted her up onto the table while she reconnected with his lips and began to kiss him down to her on the table. And he willingly followed.

Meanwhile, outside Chuck's room, Sarah lightly tapped on his window so as not to draw attention or raise suspicion. She saw that while Chuck had stirred in his bed, it was not due to her signal outside. He was in a deep sleep and he had his earphones on. She did not want to startle him, that might draw the attention she was trying to avoid and so Sarah opened the window and eased her way into his room.

She sat down next to him on his bed. From the look of him, this dream must have been a good one. In fact, her eyes widened and she pressed her lips tightly together when she noticed the full effect the dream was having on him. She moved her eyes back to his face and noticed his sleeping smile.

Still in his slumber, Chuck involuntarily grabbed Sarah's right hand. Her mind drifted for a moment lost in a thought that the agent in her had buried deep. She was snapped back to reality though when she heard a few rustling pots in the kitchen; Ellie was awake. Sarah really did not want to shake Chuck away from his dream; he had so little to look forward to in this line of work, but Agent Walker really wanted to talk to him before the daylight of Christmas came into his room. She had thought, if she took his earphones he might wake up on his own. She used her free hand to unplug the jack of his earphones. This step only had the effect of having the music come straight from the speakers of the docking station. Sarah reached with her free hand to his shoulder and then to his chest in an effort to stir him. As she did so, a new song cued, _Snow Patrol's Crack the Shutters._ It began,

_You cool your bedwarm hands down_

_On the broken radiator_

_When you lay them freezing on me_

_I mumble can you wake me later_

_But I don't really want you to stop_

_And you know it so it doesn't stop you_

_You run your hands from my neck to my chest_

While the Sarah in Chuck's dreams continued to move her hands to the front of his chest, the Sarah in his room moved her free hand to his chest to try and gently stir him awake. The song continued:

_Crack the shutters open wide_

_I want to bathe you in the light of day_

_And just watch you as the rays _

_Tangle up around your face and body_

_I could sit for hours_

_Finding new ways to be awed each minute _

_Cause the daylight seems to want you_

_Just as much as I want you_

"Chuck!"

Chuck startled and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was her hand and the bracelet on his chest while she was trying to wake him. He blinked a few times. As he was rubbing his eyes with his hands, another song began, _Elbow's One Day Like This_:

_Drinking in the morning sun  
Blinking in the morning sun  
Shaking off the heavy one_

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you and so I let myself in," Sarah said with a nod of her head toward the window.

Everything began to come into focus, especially as the song continued.

_  
Heavy like a loaded gun  
What made me behave that way?  
Using words I never say  
I can only think it must be love  
Oh, anyway, it's looking like a beautiful day  
_

With these lyrics, the same strange perplexed look that she had seen late last night in the Buy More suddenly appeared on Chuck's face.

"Can we talk about last night?" Sarah asked. She wanted to talk to him about why he had left and had turned off his phone. Agent Walker was worried about their cover.

As much as Chuck really wanted to hear the truth from Sarah, he just did not want to be fed another lie. It was bad enough that she had just ruined his perfect Sarah dream but now he was going to have to spend an all day faking it with her in front of his sister. Chuck opened his lower lip and let a big breath escape up his face.

"I don't want to talk right now Sarah . . . I've got to go . . . go brush my teeth, yeah." Chuck put his hand over his mouth, grabbed some clean clothes, turned off the music, and swiftly took off to the bathroom.

The twilight was gone and the sun had risen on Christmas at the Bartowskis.


	5. Working Up A Good Lather

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter V—Working Up A Good Lather**

While in the shower, Chuck began to think about dead Lt. Mauser. Sure, he was a bad, bad man but now, "I have his blood on my hands," Chuck lamented. As much as he scrubbed, he just did not feel like he could get clean enough.

Last year, Chuck had had to tell Casey, "No guns at Thanksgiving." Now, he guessed that he would have to tell Agent Walker, "No killing at Christmas." What about New Years, Valentine's, and Easter? "Can't I ever have a holiday in peace?" he muttered to himself as he turned off the shower. "Now I am going to be stuck her all day in my own personal Twilight Zone nightmare," Chuck groaned.

As he stepped out of the shower and dried off he remembered his conversation with Sarah from the day before. She had tried to tell him that she did not do Christmas. He had half hoped that she would not come over after she had lied to him last night. But that was not like Agent Walker. She completed her assignments, often with deadly precision. He shuddered.

As he put on his boxers and sweats, he remembered that she was already there in his room, PJs and all. He thought to himself, when he told her PJs yesterday, she also took that _assignment_ seriously. He laughed at the thought of the turtleneck with the red plaid flannel pajamas she had on. She did look cute and all Christmasy, Chuck rationalized and thought that those flannels must have been special-shipped from some CIA enclave in Butte, Montana, or Green Bay, Wisconsin, or somewhere else where they completed important life-threatening missions like shoveling mountains of snow. He had never seen so little skin on her before. The _sort-of _boyfriend half objected to the unrevealing PJs after all, "we're in Southern California for crying out loud."

As he finished brushing his teeth he looked in the mirror and said to himself tooth brush in hand, "Next time, I'm going to ask her if she is coming to the Toga Party?" He laughed, "Maybe then, that little purple number might resurface."

Chuck rinsed, lathered his face, and commenced to take off his overnight shadow.

While still in his room, Sarah had not thought anything of Chuck's abrupt departure _at first_. After all, he had just woken up and maybe he did need to go to the bathroom. She recounted his actions. When she had stirred him and he had finally opened his eyes, he looked at her hand on his chest, specifically the bracelet that he had given her the day before. There was some song playing in the background but she had not paid any attention to it. She thought, maybe he had flashed on something, it often happened when he heard a song or a certain noise or word. No, he would have told her if he had flashed. Plus, his facial expression was much different this time. Chuck had that same strange look on his face last night when she had told him about her taking care of that Fulcrum agent.

"_Chuck didn't want to talk?_" she said out loud. When had that _ever _happened before? Something was definitely wrong. But what?

Chuck continued to shave in the bathroom. A knock at the door startled him and he nicked his chin. It was Sarah. She proceeded to come in.

"Great, nothing like more blood shed during the holidays," Chuck muttered under his breath.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Agent Walker asked as she came closer to inspect the damage. She reached down to grab a towel to stop the bleeding.

"You tell me." Chuck responded with a piercing gaze.

Before she could respond, Agent Walker noticed the door opening. With split second precision, she moved in to plant a big showy kiss on Chuck.

"Sorry bro, the door wasn't locked," Devin said as he backed out of the bathroom the way he had come in. As Devin continued down the hallway, they both could hear him say, "Guess I'm not the only one who likes to work up a good lather in the bathroom."

"Sorry about that Chuck, I had to act fast," she smiled cutely back as she toweled off his chin.

As usual, Chuck looked a bit dumfounded for a few seconds but then he was overcome with laughter at the sight of Sarah with shaving cream on her cheeks and nose. He had completely forgotten what they had been talking about before the Awesome interruption. But Agent Walker had not. She made a mental note to come back to him about this later.

Chuck took the towel from her hands and wiped the shaving cream from her nose and chin. She smiled as she departed from the room to let him finish up on his own. "I'll see you out there," she said.


	6. Taking It Up A Notch Personal Style

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter VI—Taking It Up A Notch Personal Style**

Sarah walked down the hall and toward the living room. In the kitchen, Ellie was putting a breakfast casserole in the oven. "Ellie, is there anything I can do to help?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, hey Sarah, I didn't know you were here, guess I missed you coming in after we went to bed." Ellie said.

Internally, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief that their cover was still intact and then she said, "I hope that it was okay, that I came. . ."

"Are you kidding? I'm not one to exaggerate but you have been the best thing that has ever happened to my brother. I know that he can be quite challenging at times but you have brought something out in him that I haven't seen since we were kids."

These talks always made Agent Walker uncomfortable and as much as Sarah did not want to 'take it up a notch-personal style' as Awesome would say, she was intrigued. Before Sarah could catch herself, she smiled and asked, "What do you mean?"

Ellie responded, "Pure joy."

Sarah looked back at Ellie not really understanding or knowing what to say.

Ellie explained, "Do you remember when you were a child and you had asked Santa for the one thing that you knew you wanted the most in the world and then on Christmas Day you came in and found that item under the tree?"

Sarah nodded, it was not the time to go into the annual Burton Salvation Army con job for the second time in two days.

"Well, until this past week, the last time I saw my brother truly happy, was when our dad gave him this used Tandy computer that he had refurbished from his work. It was one of those that had the screen attached to the keyboard, it must have weighed 50 pounds. It was even old when dad gave it to Chuck. But Chuck used to sit happy at it and write strange riddles on it day and night. I think he even took that thing to Stanford with him."

Ellie continued, "And then last week, that look of pure joy reappeared when he asked me if he could give you this." She reached down toward the charm bracelet and cradled Sarah's wrist for a moment with both of her hands.

"See, after our mom was gone, our dad gave it to Chuck and told him that one day he would find that one special person. After our dad left the last time, Chuck asked me to hold on to it. And then about a week after Thanksgiving, he asked me about it and I knew . . . .I knew that you were the one, Sarah."

Sarah was speechless. It took everything in her to keep it together. As much as she hated holding back her feelings from Chuck, his sister always seemed to find a way to make these liabilities rise up close to the surface. Sarah looked down at the bracelet in an effort to refocus her attention. She just could not look at Ellie or she knew she _really_ was going to lose it.

Ellie could tell that Sarah was overwhelmed by her inability to make eye contact with her. Of course, Ellie would not stop there, she was relentless, "You see, there's a key, a heart, and a guardian angel on it. We often wondered what these meant between our dad and mom. Maybe, dad was telling mom that she was the key to his heart and that he would always protect her. Chuck was just told by dad that 'it was good luck.' But I, . . . I think there was probably more to it than that."

Ellie smiled and continued, "I am sure that you two will have your own memories and have your own meanings behind it." As Ellie finished her off, she let go of Sarah's hand, and gave her a real Bartowski hug, and held it. While Ellie hugged her she said, "You know, Chuck's been up in the clouds all this week just thinking about giving you this." Ellie let go.

"His happiness reminded me of how Devin acted during the few days just before he proposed," Ellie said as she smiled at Sarah.

Sarah responded with a big grin in large part in relief at the change in the subject, "Wait, you knew about that?"

"Are you kidding?" Ellie lowered her head slightly, raised her brows, and continued, "Devin had Chuck hold onto the ring. When Morgan found it, he showed it to me thinking that Chuck was going to propose to you."

"Yeah, that was funny." Sarah smiled, she knew this story.

Ellie continued, "But I knew that Chuck had not asked me for this yet" as she again held Sarah's wrist for a moment. ". . . but don't tell Devin, because it was just perfect how he proposed," Ellie winked mischievously.

"Your secret is safe with me," Sarah winked back. She thought for a moment, if Ellie only knew about the assortment of coffee grounds and baby diapers that she had gone through to find that ring. Sarah still thought it would have been much easier just to have the CIA recreate it rather than the efforts that they had taken all night digging through the garbage. But now, she finally understood why Chuck had insisted on finding it.

"Well, make yourself at home, while I go fresh up a bit," Ellie smiled and left Sarah in the kitchen alone.


	7. The Meaning Behind The Cards

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter VII—The Meaning Behind the Cards **

As Ellie left to freshen up, Sarah walked into the living room. Sarah noticed all the Christmas cards on the mantle. There were so many. Sarah picked up a hand drawn card. Inside, it read:

_Thank you, Dr. Bartowski! You saved my life._

Another card with a big heart on the outside read:

_Dr. Woodcombe, your heart gave me my heart. _

A card with kittens under a tree read:

_Merry Christmas Devin and Ellie! _

_We love you,_

_Mom and Dad._

On the other end of the mantle, Sarah noticed a card which said:

_Feliz Navidad! _

_Bolognia Grimes._

Next to that card, a card written in mandarin Chinese was signed by Mae Ling Cho. Agent Walker translated the characters in her head to learn that it read,

_Happy Holidays Chuck and thanks again for helping me save my brother._

There was even a card from Laslo with some sort of shorthand binary code at the bottom. Sarah deftly placed this card aside and made a mental note to tuck it in her bag later for future analysis.

The card with the martini glass next to the Christmas tree caught her eye. She picked it up and read:

_Charles, _

_Best Wishes for you and Sarah. _

_Always, Roan. _

_P.S. Tell Diane I said "hello."_

Sarah openly laughed at the thought of Agent Montgomery putting the moves on General Beckman. This release had been just what she needed after the intensely personal talk she had just received from Ellie in the kitchen.

As Sarah continued to look at the cards on the mantle, Ellie made her way back to the kitchen to check on the casserole in the oven. Ellie noticed Sarah by the fireplace and added, "We almost ran out of room on the mantle this year. I don't really know what happened. Chuck usually only gets a card from Morgan's mom and that's about it. But this year, he has gotten cards from all over."

Ellie yelled down the hall to Chuck, "How do you know all of these people again?"

"Off-site installs, Sis!" Chuck said as he entered the living room and smiled at Sarah.

"What's this one?" Sarah asked Chuck as she pointed to a slightly worn card in the center of the mantle. The picture on the card was of Santa flying over the Mirage in Vegas complete with Siegfried and Roy in the back of the sleigh.

"Open it and you'll see," Chuck replied.

Inside the inscription read:

_Merry Christmas! _

_Wish I could be there with you two instead of this card. _

_Be safe and know that I love and miss you._

_Love, Dad. _

_12-25-96._

"We keep this card to remind us that our dad is always with us, if not physically, at least in spirit." Chuck explained to her.

"Well, that card is not going to walk me down the aisle at my wedding," Ellie said matter of factly as she approached them from the kitchen.

Chuck walked over to meet Ellie, "Don't worry El, I'm working on it." He smiled and gave Ellie a half hug from the side.

Devin came down the hallway into the kitchen and asked, "Eggnog anyone?"

"Absolutely!" Chuck chimed in from the living room.

As Devin filled four martini glasses of the creamy mixture the other members of the household settled down around the fireplace with Chuck and Sarah on the couch and Ellie on the adjacent love seat. Devin brought the glasses over to them and Ellie made room for Devin by letting him sit down as she rested on arm of the love seat, her feet tucked under him.

"Who did these glasses come from again, Chuck?" Ellie asked.

"Oh, Roan, he was a guy that I helped figure out how to . . . get on , e-harmony, you know all of _those _sites," Chuck said with particular emphasis.

Sarah giggled.

Chuck then chose his glass, selecting it by the stem. He turned and nodded to Sarah. Then he turned up his glass in one fluid motion. As he lowered his glass, she noticed that he had an "egg nog mustache." And Sarah made a gesture to her face to indicate that Chuck had a bit on his upper lip.

"What?" Chuck said facetiously. "A moment to learn, a lifetime to perfect," he said as he wiped off the extra egg nog and laughed.

Sarah spit up her drink. She looked at Devin and said, "Next thing you know, he'll be doing the bed room eyes, you know . . ."

Chuck piped in, "yes, the old Bartowski eyebrow dance" as he raised his brows up and down in Sarah's direction.

And Sarah continued, "then you'll start firing the guns at me," she made little gun motions with her fingers.

Only this time Chuck did not laugh, but instead gave a weak smile. Again that strange expression from the night before resurfaced. As before, Agent Walker caught Chuck's reaction. Something was bothering him.

Unlike Agent Walker, Ellie and Devin completely missed Chuck's weird reaction. They were busy looking at one another and laughing as Devin emulated the Bartowski brow dance, shot his guns at Ellie, and went in for a quick kiss.

Ellie smiled and then turned to the other couple in the room. "You know Sarah, Devin and I have been thinking that now that you and Chuck have been back together for some time. . ."

Sensing an uncomfortable your future together speech, Chuck interjected, ". . .We deserve a 'Know Ya' rematch! Right, Sarah?"

"Exactly!" Sarah quickly responded, she too, recognized the beginning of another infamous Eleanor Faye Bartowski what are your future plans spill and in light of the conversation that she had just had in the kitchen, Sarah was feeling very uncomfortable with any continuation down that road.

"You got it bro! It is so on!" said Devin.

"Maybe since Morgan isn't here, I'll have a chance?" Sarah replied.

"That reminds me, where is the little Rambo? You guys did not get to see him rise up from under the fake snow to help take down Ned with the snow blowing machine last night." Devin said with admiration.

"I don't know, but when I talked to him last night, he was in shock over seeing Anna and Lester kiss." Chuck said with a look of disgust.

"Did he ask her about it? Because I saw Anna push away from Lester and shout out 'Gross!'" Ellie asked.

"I don't think so." Chuck paused and then continued, "Well, there are always two sides to every story. I am sure that they will work it out, assuming that Morgan does not get to twitching the next time he sees a Delorean, Dodge Charger, or heaven forbid, a Trans-Am with a wing-spread Eagle on the front hood." Everyone, even Devin, missed Chuck's Smokey and the Bandit reference.

"Let's hope they do work it out. Morgan has been so much more bearable with Anna in his life, even as strange and scary as that girl is . . ." Ellie said as she went in the kitchen and continued, "I mean who puts tartar sauce in a green bean casserole?"

"Well, maybe Morgan will stop by later," Chuck responded as he went to get the game from the closet.


	8. Know Ya Better Than I Thought I Knew You

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter VIII—'Know Ya' Better Than I Thought I Knew You**

Ellie returned with plates of her special breakfast casserole. Chuck and Devin set up the game. Chuck handed Sarah a paddle which still had writing on it. She looked at it and grinned. "Well, before Morgan does show up . . . I've got a game to win or I might be permanently replaced by . . . "

_ORGAN!_

She flipped over the paddle to show the rest of them. They all laughed.

"Well, the future Mrs. Woodcombe, do you want to show these two amateurs how it is done?" Devin asked.

"I do!" Ellie affirmed with a big smile.

As the foursome played the game there were little if any missteps. Chuck answered Sarah's favorite pizza—vegetarian with no olives—like an old pro. Devin countered with Ellie's favorite movie, by confirming that it definitely was not "Sister Act 2," but instead was "Casablanca." Sarah got Chuck's first foreign language correct—Klingon. Ellie answered Devin's favorite drink with a smirk—Ginseng Protein Shake. To which Devin responded, "I told you it does wonders for your wang energy, Chuck." Chuck rolled his eyes.

It was Sarah's turn again. The card she drew read, "Most Hated Childhood Bully." She wrote down her response. Chuck replied, "That's easy. Dick Duffy, what a scuz ball."

Ellie was up next. She drew a card, "First Crush." She wrote down her answer.

Devin responded, "I know this one, Joey Joe of New Kids on the Block!" And then he began to sing in high falsetto, "_Please don't go girl_." In return, Ellie gave Devin a quick smooch. Chuck looked at Sarah and said, "I am so fighting to hold back that involuntary gag reflex right now." Sarah grinned back.

Chuck drew a card, "Favorite childhood toy." "I'm not sure if you are going to get this one," he said as he wrote down his answer. Sarah looked at Ellie and answered, "A Tandy computer?" Chuck turned over his paddle which read, "Tandy TRS 80." Surprised, Chuck asked, "How did . . . you know that?" But then, he spotted a shared grin between his sister and Sarah and he knew.

Devin was up next. He drew, "Scariest Moment" and wrote down his response. Ellie answered, "Poker with Jeff and Lester?" Devin turned over his paddle to reveal, "Poker at the Buy More." Devin responded to Ellie, "What would I ever do without you, babe?"

"Well, let's hope that pantless poker is never the answer to that question," Chuck butted in.

Although no one had missed an answer, Chuck and Sarah were ahead on the board due to Chuck's stellar dice rolling skills.

In the third round, Chuck answered Sarah's favorite flower—Gardenias—correctly. Devin answered Ellie's dream vacation—Wine tasting in France—with ease. Sarah and Chuck even surprised the room's more seasoned and _real _couple, with a little help from super spy Charles Carmichael when Chuck drew the card—Dream Sport. "No problem," Sarah responded, "that would have to be sailing in the America's Cup!" "That's right sweetie, just call me Car---uh, Bartowski, Charles Bartowski!" Chuck said as he put his arm around Sarah.

"Okay, Devin the pressure is on. We've got to focus." Ellie, the competitor, said. Devin drew a card, "Best Place To Work Up A Sweat." He wrote down his answer.

Chuck interjected, "Please don't say shower, please don't say shower." Chuck still had not gotten the image out of his head of the morning that he had walked in on the Awesome and Ellie shower show.

Devin smiled, shook his head, and shrugged his shoulders, "What? I mean I saw you guys this morning."

Ellie looked at Devin with wide eyes.

"Tell me, I'm wrong" Devin raised his brow and smiled.

Ellie turned toward Sarah, "I'm sorry for what I am sure was unintended voyeurism by my fiancé."

Chuck gave a half smirked when he saw Sarah's reaction to Ellie's apology. If he didn't know better, Agent Sarah Walker was actually blushing from Awesome's retelling of their _cover _kiss in the bathroom earlier.

"Here, Sarah, it's your turn," Chuck smiled as he handed her the dice. Sarah rolled and drew a card, "Best Halloween Costume." Chuck answered correctly, "Princess Leia in the Jabba slave bikini."

Ellie rolled, moved forward, and drew a card, "Favorite Dessert." She swiftly wrote down her answer. Devin grinned and answered, "What would you do for a . . . .piece of pecan pie?" "I think you know," Ellie responded and followed up her response with a kiss.

Chuck rolled and moved. They were within one space of winning. He drew a card. It read "Best Kiss." He wrote down, "Dock 14B" without even thinking about it. Sarah looked at him carefully; she really did not know what he would say. There had been countless cover kisses in front of all of those geeks, wait, she meant nerds, at the Buy More. There was even that time in the stock room at the Weinerlicious that Scooter had walked in on them and she had had to act fast. No, she told herself, Chuck would pick something real. From somewhere within her another name popped into her head—Jill. It was the logical choice, they had dated _for real_ while he was at Stanford and it had taken him a long time to get over her. In some ways, Sarah still felt some responsibility for her role in encouraging him to date Jill recently for the sake of a mission. But, she rationalized, even if it where true, there is no way that he would write down "Jill." Chuck might be a bit inexperienced when it came to maintaining a cover, but he was not stupid and this would completely blow their cover. Worse, Ellie might literally kill him. All latent insecurities aside, Sarah knew if nothing else, she had Ellie approval, and that truly was something.

She heard someone say, "Earth to Sarah."

Chuck raised his brows at her and chuckled, "I think she's thinking about _our_ best kiss."

That prompting was all she needed. She grinned and said, "Oh, yeah, sorry." Sarah's mind flashed to the moment Chuck proved that he was 'solid as a rock' in that department. "That would be the kiss we had in front of Roan," Sarah answered.

"In front of Roan? As in Roan, Mr. and martini glass guy?" Ellie asked.

"That's the one," Chuck nodded with a smirk.

"Don't you two ever get a private moment alone without someone else around?" Ellie said sorrowfully. Chuck looked up to the various bugs placed in the room and reflected on the unintended irony of Ellie's observation.

"Oh, and again, sorry about this morning," Devin interjected.

Chuck looked to Sarah as he turned over the paddle to reveal his answer. "Dock 14B"

Sarah breathed a deep breath, exhaled, and gave the best cover line that she could, "They're all so great, sweetie, I just couldn't choose."

Chuck knew that voice and knew that she was just feeding a line. But more importantly, he knew from her previous response (about their kiss in front of Roan) that she had felt something that day, something _real_, he just had not known that fact until then.

"The docks, huh? We might have to try that one." Devin smiled suggestively at Ellie.

All business, Ellie responded, "Devin, it's your turn." Devin rolled the dice and moved to the finish line. He drew a card, it read "Favorite Guilty Pleasure." He wrote down his answer. Ellie asked, "Listening to Tony Robbins?" As he turned around his paddle, the man known by everyone in the room as "Captain Awesome" (except himself, of course), jumped up and raised his arms straight up as if he were refereeing a football game and he and Ellie had just scored a touchdown together. "Babe, you are Awesome!"

"Okay, Sarah we can still tie. We just have to get this one right." Chuck said. Sarah rolled a one and moved to the finish line. She drew a card and wrote down her answer.

"The question is 'Most Dangerous Situation,'" she told them.

Sarah loved it, there was no way they were going to miss this question again. She wrote down "Sunburn—Ouch!"

Chuck, on the other hand, began to remember LaCiudad, Mr. Colt, Lizzie, all of the various bombs, Lon Kirk, and then, the image of Sarah piping lead into Lt. Mauser rested on his brain.

Devon protested, "Wait, that is a total gimme. I mean you got asked that last time."

Before Chuck could answer, Ellie noticed the look of horror on Chuck's face and so she interjected, "Devin, I think we all know the answer to that question. Let's let yesterday be yesterday, it's Christmas after all."

"Agreed, I'm sorry you guys, I was still thinking back to the baby-oil sunburn," said Devin.

"So was I," muttered Sarah under her breath. Then Agent Walker noticed that Chuck's head definitely was not in the game, but instead that same strange expression had yet again appeared on his face.

Devin looked at Chuck, "Hey man, you like 'zoned' out for a moment."

Chuck stared off and then turned to Devin and refocused, "Did you say something about the Twilight Zone?"


	9. Freaking Out & The Gremlin In The Window

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter IX—Freaking Out and The Gremlin at the Window**

Sarah looked at Chuck, "Are you okay?"

Wide eyed, Chuck stared back, "Why wouldn't I be, Sarah?"

Chuck backed away from Sarah and turned to Devin.

"Well bro, you look like you just saw or imagined something way out there." Devin responded.

"No, I just felt like I was just imagining being in some other place, you know not only of sight and sound but of mind. A land of imagination. . ." Chuck continued, ". . .you know . . . where people live long happy lives, even bad people, and everyone is completely honest with one another and people believe in one another . . . and that . . . . I didn't live in the . . . Twilight Zone." Chuck stammered crazily as he stared through Sarah's gaze.

"Maybe you should cut back on the nog?" Devin said.

From the kitchen Ellie shouted, "Sarah, don't let him creep you out with his Twilight Zone antics. He did the same thing to Devin the first year he was here for Christmas."

"Yeah, and I was about to fall for it again, thanks Chuck." Devin punched Chuck in the arm bringing him back to reality.

"Owww! Capt. . . . I mean Devin, that hurt almost as bad as when you threw that football and hit me in the produce section, twice." Chuck said.

For her part, Sarah knew that Chuck was not kidding. This was the fourth time that she had seen that expression since last night. She remembered Chuck looking at her that way in the Buy More when he asked about the Fulcrum agent, then there was this morning when she woke him up, followed by his reaction to her fake flirting by "shooting her guns" with her hands, and now he had that look in response to the "Most Dangerous Situation" question. What was going on with him? Had he seen her and Mauser fighting? Had he seen her shoot him? She had told him to run back to the castle and made sure that he took off. But, Agent Walker knew that Chuck often had a way of not listening to her when he thought she was in danger. That was the misguided hero in him, she told herself. Agent Walker needed to clear this issue between them right then before he made a real mess of things.

Sarah asked him, "Chuck, are you sure you are okay? Let's go talk in your room?" All the signs were there and Agent Walker was on the verge of putting it all together, until a voice that trailed from the kitchen ably distracted her.

"Sarah, don't fall for it, I promise that while my brother may now have a Bachelor's degree from Stanford, he definitely has had an advanced B.S. degree in the Twilight Zone for at least 10 years. If you go back there, he's likely to bring out some weird alien mask or something else to freak you out." Ellie said.

Thanks to Awesome's punch and his sister's unintentional prompt, Chuck was firmly back in the time and space that was 'Christmas at the Bartowskis.' The last thing that he wanted to do was to ruin Christmas with more lies. He wanted to keep this day uncomplicated or at least not any more complicated than his life had already become. Of course, he knew that that meant playing along in order to get along and so Chuck turned to Ellie and said, "Thanks a lot sis. . . you ruined the perfect set up because I was just about to pull out my fake pig noses, penny fortune telling machines, Gremlins, and all the really good stuff," Chuck said nonchalantly as he stared off in space.

"I thank God everyday that there wasn't a sandworm in the Twilight Zone . . . and that we only have to deal with that one on Halloween," Ellie smiled and shook her head.

"Oh come on sis, you know you love the worm and . . . more importantly, you love the fact that it keeps Morgan occupied and away from you for hours on at least one night a year," Chuck responded back in the present.

"Now, there is that." Ellie agreed.

"Okay, so I understand the egg nog and pajamas, but what's with the Twilight Zone?" Sarah asked.

"Well, you know how some guys love watching re-runs on ESPN classic, John Wayne, SNL, or even . . . Full House, . . . right, _Devin_?" Chuck said while he directed his emphasis to his future brother-in-law.

"Not cool, bro, those Olsen twins used to be so cute," Devin reminisced.

". . . that was until they grew up and became anorexic elfin vampire creatures that live only in the shadows of New York's underground," Chuck spurted out.

"Wow. Devin's guilty pleasures are Tony Robbins _and_ Full House. Ellie, do you know what you are getting into here?" Sarah laughed.

Ellie smiled and responded, "Yes, but more importantly, did you also know that a few months ago, this sweet man covered the entire apartment in rose pedals and candles and baked me dinner including pecan pie?" Ellie responded.

"Oh really, _he did all of that_?" Sarah inquired.

While the girls continued to talk about how awesome Captain Awesome truly was, Devin whispered into Chuck's ear, "Hey bro, I meant to thank you for that. That was you, wasn't it?" Chuck smiled and raised his head slightly toward him while Sarah smiled and winked at Chuck.

"Yes, my Full House loving fiancé is the sweetest man in the world," Ellie said as she came over to Devin. While she gave him a big hug, Devin whispered just loud enough for Chuck to hear, "Hey babe, how about we go back in our room and see how sweet I can be?"

"You know, we can so hear you right now," Chuck said and Sarah laughed.

"Not now Devin, we've got . . . company . . . and . . . Twilight Zone tapes to watch." Ellie smiled and winked at Devin.

Chuck turned to Sarah, "So as I was saying, some guys like to watch re-runs of old shows they like, and well, my dad used to love the Twilight Zone. Every Christmas we would spend all afternoon in our pajamas watching old re-runs over and over. As we got older, the tradition naturally evolved, largely with the addition and help of egg nog and various other liquors to what you now have the unique pleasure of experiencing as 'Christmas at the Bartowskis'!"

Chuck continued, "So prepare yourself, Miss Walker to be 'heart-warmed' in the Twilight Zone."

"Good thing we still have that old VCR to play those old tapes of dad's," Ellie said as she grabbed a glass of wine. Chuck popped in a tape. "Devin, could you get the lights?" Sarah laughed.

"For our first viewing this Christmas, we will begin with the classic, 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.' This episode is what many consider as William Shatner's best work to date. No, we are not talking about Denny Dean, Capt. James T. Kirk, or even his repeating role as the Priceline spokesman. We are talking about the Twilight Zone."

Chuck pressed play and the episode began:

_To unlock this door with the key of imagination beyond it is another dimension, _

_a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. _

_You are moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas, _

_You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone._

Outside another wayward traveler from the nerd dimension had just arrived by pedal. As Morgan parked his Swinn 10 speed, he noticed through in the front window that 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet' was just starting. Although late, the day was apparently still young and, so was Shatner. Long before the bloated days of Boston Legal, TJ Hooker, and the Star Trek movies, Morgan thought. He noticed his adopted family, Chuck and the future Mrs. Baretta (i.e. Ellie) and Captain Awesome all enjoying themselves. He could hear Chuck make the comment that Morgan had always made in the past, "Gremlin on the plane, don't they know that they shouldn't have fed it after midnight?" He also heard Shatner on the television blurt out:

_There's a man out there, look he's crawling on the . . . _

Morgan had a great idea, one he was sure would be added to the annual Bartowski Zoner tradition for years to come. Just as the Gremlin on the television planted his face against the airplane window close to Shatner on the television screen, Morgan raised his head and emulated that action by pressing his face and beard against the glass of the window outside the apartment directly in Ellie's and Devin's line of sight. A high pitched scream came straight from Ellie! Devin, Chuck, and Sarah turned to notice the short small Gremlin outside practically making out with the apartment window. They all laughed hysterically and were still laughing when Chuck got up to let his best pal in the whole world inside.

"Come in you, Gremlin you!" Chuck said as he grabbed Morgan with one arm with a playful choke hold and used his other fist to mess up Morgan's hair.

"That was SPECTACULAR Morgan!" Devin high fived Morgan.

"Well, I told you guys that he had great comic timing," Chuck said and continued, "I was beginning to think that you'd be a scratch for the afternoon."

"Man I'm sorry, I've just been so out of it since Anna practically molested Lester yesterday. They're probably getting it on in the home theater room right now. Now, I'm gonna have to quit the Buy More. There's nothing there for me except bad, painful memories. Can I work for you, Sarah, at the Orange Orange?" Morgan said with some desperation.

"Whoa there, hold on little buddy, it's Christmas, and it's time for an afternoon with Morgan," Chuck said reassuringly. Chuck continued as he went back to the kitchen, "And as you know, this afternoon will consists of egg nog, pjs, and much 'Zoning.' There will be no talk of odd Anna fetishes or work."

Morgan a bit uplifted asked, "Can I at least wallow in my beard?"

"Morgan, are you kidding, you were amazing yesterday. The way that you rose up from that pile of fake snow to distract that guy was AWESOME! We owe our lives to you." Devin said.

"So you're not going to pluck me from head to toe anymore?" Morgan asked.

"No, I think you showed how mature you were in a crisis—even if you were in tights and a green elf costume." Devin joked.

"Great, so . . . I can get a loan from you to buy the General Lee?" Morgan asked.

"Don't push it you furry . . . .Gremlin . . . oh, and can you make sure to wash the window before you leave?" Devin said.

"Sure. I brought the screen cleaner I got in my stocking." Morgan said.

Chuck returned from the kitchen with Morgan's own personal Kryptonite and comfort drink, "Here you go buddy, a little grape soda and it's your choice on the next episode."

"How about 'A World of His Own?' It's one of my all time favs," Morgan said.

"You got it buddy," Chuck said as he put a new tape in the VCR.


	10. A World of His Own

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter X—A World of His Own**

Chuck was uplifted with the addition of his buddy Morgan to their festivities. As the Twilight Zone classic about a man who could create his dream woman simply by describing her began, Chuck and Morgan quoted the opening out loud and _in unison_:

_You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight_

_and sound but of mind. A journey into a wonderous land of imagination. _

_Next stop the Twilight Zone._

On the television the playwright asked the woman if the martini is,

_Dry enough?_

Chuck grabbed his martini glass with egg nog and took a drink.

_Perfect as always. _

Chuck nodded, smiled at Sarah, and said said with the television:

_We'll let the mistress decide_

Sarah smiled back at Chuck . . .

_She's decided._

He grinned at the answer from the television. Chuck then reached around from behind Sarah with his left arm and then gave her a peck on the head as he emulated the show on the screen in front of them.

"Has he done this before?" Sarah asked the rest of the living room audience.

"Only for about a dozen years," Ellie said as she smiled and half rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but the other times there was this blow up doll and lots of this sort of thing," Morgan said as he turned his back to them, crossed his arms and placed his hands on his shoulders and made kissing noises."

Chuck threw a napkin at Morgan and retorted, "Buddy, that was you. Just think, Lars and the Real Girlfriend. I promise that, that never happened . . . with . . . _me_."

"Whatever dude." Morgan grinned as he slurped on his grape soda. "Either way, you still have a Tron poster and bongos in your room and we all know how well those play with the chicks."

Everyone laughed and Chuck nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders in recognition.

Chuck refocused on the episode and said, "Wait, this is my favorite part." Out of his pocket he pulled out Ellie's dicta-phone. "I've been looking for that," Ellie protested.

In concert with television Chuck started:

_Her name is _

"SARAH, she's 28 years old, . . ."

_5'6" tall, nicely built, blonde hair, fair complexion. _

_A simple unassuming female but with that quality of inner-loveliness _

_that brings real beauty to a woman. _

_A tender gentle woman, an understanding woman._

_She's dressed in a soft blouse, old fashioned _

". . . PJs . . ."

_Her hair is attractively arranged. _

"Dude, that's your secret, I knew it, you created Sarah!" Morgan said.

Sarah laughed. "That's funny, good thing it's not true," she said as the ending credits rolled.

"Or is it?" Chuck said as he pulled out an envelope from behind them on the couch. The envelope had the name "Sarah Walker" written on the outside of it. Chuck opened the envelope playfully and pulled out the tape. He stood up and said, "Maybe, I should just let the fake gas logs lick this envelope and we'll find out."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Sarah said unconvinced.

"Dude no way, you can't test fate! Gimme that!" Morgan grabbed the envelope from Chuck's hands.

"Sarah, you can thank me later." Morgan said as he put the envelope in his satchel.

"So, I guess that means you are sticking around for awhile longer? We sure would not want to see you vanish into thin air, now would we?" Chuck smiled sincerely at Sarah.

"Well, I'm just glad that you didn't give her that third boob like that pro in Total Recall." Morgan said.

"What?" Ellie, Awesome, and Sarah looked at one another in disbelief.

"Yeah, buddy, you said that one out loud." Chuck said.

"Anyone need a refill?" Morgan said quickly as he jetted back to the kitchen.

Chuck looked back at Sarah and said in her ear, "He means well, there's just a little filter that he lacks between his man-boy brain and his mouth."


	11. Beholding The Inner Beauty

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter XI—Beholding The Inner Beauty**

Devin, Sarah, and Morgan continued on in their journey through the Twilight Zone, with the classic story, 'Eye of the Beholder.' In that episode, a woman tried desperately to conform to society's norms to look and act like everyone else.

Meanwhile, Chuck and Ellie took a break to make grilled cheese for the five-some. While in the kitchen, Ellie asked, "Chuck is everything alright?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Chuck asked.

"Well we never talked about what happened yesterday, with Ned and the hostage situation and while we were playing the game you kind of spaced out for a moment, I just wanted to make you are fine." Ellie said.

"Oh yeah, I'm okay sis," Chuck responded a bit too quickly to be convincing.

While in the living room, Sarah was captivated by the bandaged woman's plight. The poor woman was doing everything in her power to fit in, to be normal, but something within her just simply would not cooperate much to her dismay. It was so tragic. The doctor was so caring about the woman's plight when he said:

_I've looked underneath the bandages . . . deeper than that . . . ._

_I've seen that woman's real face, the face of her real self, it's a good face, _

_it's a human face_

As interested as she was in the episode, Sarah found herself going back to that wrenching conversation that she and Chuck had had at the fountain outside his apartment. He had told her that she was everything he had ever wanted but that he was a normal guy who wanted a normal life and she simply would never be normal. But then, something inexplicable had happened in the weeks that followed. She did not know whether it was due to her high school reunion, Chuck meeting her dad, or the aftermath of Jill, but something had definitely changed. When he came to see her yesterday morning, there was no stopping him. He had somehow gotten past the barriers that she had purposely put up and had gotten through to her. He had told her that underneath it all she was a regular person just like everyone else. A _regular _person? What did he know? As she looked down at the bracelet, apparently he knew enough. Or did he?

As the doctor was taking off the woman's bandages on the television, Sarah wondered, what would happen when all of their emotional barriers had been removed? Would Chuck accept her whether or not he approved of what he saw? She did not know. Moreover, the prospect of rejection was not something she was willing to open herself up to. Regardless of the emotions, it would simply make her job of protecting him unbearable.

On the television screen, the removal of the final bandages revealed a beautiful but distraught woman. Surely, there was a lesson here, Sarah thought. Could she ever fit into Chuck's world? The moment was fleeting and so was Sarah's inner-contemplation.

Because, as the shock of the pig-faced hospital staff on the television revealed what was 'normal,' Sarah noticed Morgan sitting next to her with a pig snout on his face. Sarah just put her hands on her face and shook her head in laughter as Morgan continued to make jokes about "how hot" the _ugly _woman on the television was.

In the kitchen, the Bartowski siblings were putting the final touches on lunch. "Well, it looks like Sarah is enjoying herself even . . . ." Ellie gasped.

". . . in spite of the pig snout that Morgan currently has on his face." Chuck turned and raised his brows and laughed.

From the kitchen, Chuck bellowed, "Okay Morgan, you've so got to quit doing the SNL spoof. If you don't, you'll probably scare away the _really hot _the non-pig faced girl sitting next to you."

"Anyone ready for some hot ham and cheesers?" Ellie asked as she set the table.

"Well, everyone except for _you _pig-face, cannibalism would be disrespectful to your people." Chuck grinned and pointed to Morgan.

With that, the Bartowskis, significant others, and friends set down for a late afternoon lunch minus one pig snout, which was left comfortably on the coffee table in front of the television.


	12. Looking In The Mirror & Seeing The Truth

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter XII—Looking Into The Mirror And Seeing The Truth**

After lunch Awesome went for a bike ride as the television marathon continued with the Twilight Zone classic, 'The Whole Truth.' Even though this episode was grainy and a bit dated it was a favorite of Chuck's. He loved the idea of a used car salesman who was compelled to be honest.

"This episode is so not realistic. Who'd buy that hunk of junk?" Morgan asked.

"Morgan you have to ask _that_ and you bought a car that stalled when it went above 22 miles an hour?" Ellie said.

"But Ellie, you didn't get to see the license plate or that great Mr. Fusion sticker I had gotten for the bumper," Morgan responded.

As Morgan and Ellie continued to debate the finer points of whether or not the DEMORGAN was, in fact, a wise investment, Chuck could not help but think back to the mission when he, Sarah, Casey, and Ellie (unknowingly) had been drugged with a toxic derivative of Pentothal, a drug that had made them all tell the truth. It had been over a year ago, but he reflected back on the question that he had asked Sarah that day "Is this ever going anywhere?" _Her honesty _still pained and _puzzled him_. He had put it out of his mind when she kissed him at the docks the next week. And then there was their "second first date," as she called it. There was something there; he knew it, even if she did not. He had carried his mom's charm bracelet around for a whole week betting that he was right. And she did not disappoint him. He smiled. Whether or not "this was ever going anywhere," he had seen a glimmer of something real, even today.

Ellie and company continued to make small talk through the episode and Chuck focused back in on the conversation.

"I just don't understand, what's the big deal about having to tell the truth all the time? I mean, sure it would be great if you could go to a car dealership and know that they were being forthright, but other than that, I think the people in my life are basically truthful." Ellie said.

"Hey Ellie, not to change the subject but do you remember when I was eight and the thieves stole money from my piggy bank?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah, I think so Chuck, why?" Ellie responded with a strange look.

"Do you know what ever happened to the money?" Chuck asked.

"I have no idea." Ellie said with an unconvincing look of puzzlement.

"Do you think that they could have put it in your New Kids fanny pack?" Chuck asked.

"What are you talking about Chuck?" Ellie said with a feigned look of shock.

"Nothing, I just thought you might know what happened," Chuck smiled at Sarah as they both laughed under their breath.

Ellie looked wide-eyed at Morgan as if he was the culprit, but this time even the funny little guy was not to blame.

"Maybe we should look into 'The Mirror' next" Morgan said. The unintended irony of his suggestion did not go unnoticed.

"Sounds great, I'll put it in," Ellie hurriedly popped in the tape of this classic Twilight Zone episode about a tyrant who had the ability to see his future assassins in the mirror.

As this episode played on the television, Morgan played out some of his "Viva BuyMoria" fantasies including the overthrow of yet another Assistant Tyrant, Emmitt Milbarge. Sarah, on the other hand, thought back to countless insurrections she had quelled all in the name of democracy while the tyrant on the tube argued:

_What are you some kind of chameleon?_

_What is this ease that you strip off one color and put on another?_

_You turn my stomach_

_Murderers can never be murdered!_

_Murderers can only be executed!_

"Well, that sure would make things easier," Sarah said looking a bit tired.

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked.

"To know who was going to betray you just by looking in the mirror," Sarah yawned.

"Ahhh, but therein lies the rub Miss Walker, because in looking into the mirror in Twilight Zone, at some point one will always see one's self. And so, the real enemy remains within." Morgan responded in his psychoanalyst voice. Dr. Morgan was much closer to the truth than he knew.

As the others digested his heady comment, Chuck responded, "Well, it would be nice to know in advance who was going to kill you. It would definitely make the mission easier."

"Mission? What mission? Ahh, I'm with you dude, now you're talking Call of Duty strategy." Morgan replied.

"That's right!" Chuck said a bit relieved that no one (except the drowsy Agent under his arm) had picked up on what he had really said.

As the episode continued and drew to a close, Chuck began to contemplate the reality of the _real_ relationship that he was seeking with the one who had just nodded off to sleep while nestled cozily under his arm. Chuck looked down at her lip and cheek. That close, he noticed a bit of her makeup had rubbed off. He recognized the puffy bruising on her left cheek and lower lip. He wondered to himself, "how had that happened?" He did not see her get hurt last night. He did not want to wake her though and so he made a mental note to ask her about it later. Of course, he told himself, he had no hope of knowing whether her response would be the truth, but he was still concerned about her safety _and he did really care about her_.

For her part, Ellie too, was getting sleepy. She motioned at Chuck that she was going to take a nap. But before his sister retired, Chuck noticed that she made Devin a Ginseng drink and put it on the kitchen table for when he returned from his bike ride. As much he did not need the image of his sister and Awesome in his head, he could not help but chuckle.


	13. Getting Nogged While Visiting

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter XIII—Getting Nogged While Visiting**

Two hours into the Twilight Zone marathon, the remaining participants, Chuck Bartowski, Morgan Grimes, and the sleeping Sarah Walker began the classic episode, 'A Nice Place to Visit.' In this episode, a dead thief faced the reality of his afterworld life. The narration on the television began:

_Portrait of a man at work, the only work he's ever done, the only work he knows._

_. . . that's the way his life has been—_

_rocky an perilous and uphill at a dead run all the way._

_He's tired now, tired of running or wanting, _

_of waiting for the breaks that come to others but never to him . . ._

Chuck grimaced at the inherent irony of his life in relation to the episode on the television. To be sure, he was no Rocky Valentine (the thief on the tv), but his life since being sent the intersect often made him tired, tired of running or wanting, of waiting for breaks that never seemed to come. He sighed and took a drink from the glass of egg nog that was resting in his free hand.

Well, at least Rocky got a swanky pad, Chuck thought as he started to drift off to sleep. Half asleep, Chuck began to think that those underground CIA bunkers might not be that bad after all. At least there he would not have to worry about Fulcrum and . . . Lt. Mauser . . .

_POW! POW!_

Two gun blasts on the tube startled Chuck with an image in his mind that he had tried so hard to erase; as he jerked back, the drink in his hand came toward him and spilled on the front of the sleeping assassin in his arms. Sarah woke immediately. The dialogue on the television continued:

_Bullet proof vest huh—_

_Well let's see how your head holds up_

_Mr. Valentine please_

_POW! POW! POW!_

_Couldn't have missed not at this range_

_Look familiar?_

"Oh God, Sarah, I'm sorry. I fell asleep and got spooked by the television." Chuck said pitifully as he looked at the spill he had created all over the front of her pajamas.

"It's okay Chuck," Sarah said while she thought to herself, great, now he was even getting spooked by gunfire on television? She noticed that Ellie had left the room and that Morgan had also fallen asleep on the chair across from them.

They were essentially alone. Agent Walker rubbed her eyes and wondered about the time. Sensing that her cover duties were completed, she told him, "I'll just go rinse it off and be on my way."

As she headed toward the bathroom, Chuck followed her.

"Oh you don't have to go, you look so tired, are you sure you're awake enough to drive?" Chuck said.

"Maybe it was the egg nog," she told him, and the oxycontin she told herself.

Chuck left her alone for a moment as she started to rinse the already curdling milk mixture off the front of her pajamas. He returned with a t-shirt and some new boxers.

"Here, put these on." Chuck said.

He walked out of the bathroom to give her a moment of privacy. After a few minutes, Chuck knocked on the door and asked for the nog stained PJs.

"You don't have to do that," Sarah responded.

"Yes I do, come on now, hand them over Walker," Chuck said in a steady voice.

She half opened the door and handed them to him.

"Hey, again I'm sorry," Chuck said apologetically as he leaned his back to the door that separated them both.

"Don't worry about it," she responded as she leaned back on the other side of that same door.

"I'll get them in the wash and have them back to you in a . . . jiffy," he said and continued to himself, "Jiffy? What the f**k? That's almost as bad as a buh-bye." He moved away from the door.

Sarah smiled from behind the door; she had heard him correct himself. "I think I will take a nap, if that's okay?" Sarah said as she returned to the sink and looked back at herself in the mirror.

"Sure," he responded as he looked back at the door that separated them.

"And hey, thanks for making me do Christmas," Sarah said on the other side of the door just loud enough for him to hear her.

As Chuck walked down the hall to rinse out the stain and put the flannel granny pajamies in the wash, he thought with a half-smile "mission accomplished—he had 'heart-warmed' . . . a killer."

What he did not know was that on the other side of the door was a bruised and battered 'killer' who did not know how she was going to explain herself with the purple chokehold handprints on her neck now in full view.


	14. Rough Stuff

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter XIV—Rough Stuff**

A few doors down at the apartment Laundromat, Chuck took great care to rinse out all the remaining egg nog that he had spilled on Sarah's pajamas. As he was putting them in the wash, Awesome, back from his bike ride, noticed his future brother-in-law.

"See, I told Ellie we should have gotten the washer and dryer," Devin said and continued, "Here bro, you mind putting this in there too?" as he took off his shirt.

"Devin, do you always have to take your shirt off?" Chuck groaned.

"Come on man, I'm feeling like a hot shower," Awesome said.

"Just for you to know, Ellie is taking a nap and so no showers for two in the apartment now, right? I mean it's Christmas." Chuck said.

"Well, I do always like to spread a little holiday cheer, if you know what I mean?" Awesome said in that voice that meant little about Christmas and a lot about getting it on with his lady.

As they walked in the door, Chuck noticed that Morgan still appeared to be out like a light.

Devin noticed as he was walked by the kitchen table a drink with a hand-written note written by none other than the future Mrs. Woodcombe. "Nice! Ginseng Protein shake."

With one fluid motion Chuck slapped his forehead with both his hands and shook his head.

"Chuck, I'm going to take a shower, you guys have fun with what you are doing out here." Awesome said.

"I so did not just have that shower picture in mind again," Chuck said in feigned disgust.

Drink in hand, Awesome walked right into Sarah as she came out of the bathroom.

The unmistakable purple bruises around Sarah's neck could not have been more noticeable.

Under his breath, Awesome said, "I would have never believed it. Lester was right, she is a cougar! Geez, I knew you guys liked make up sex but I had no idea that you were into the rough stuff!"

Even half awake, Agent Walker heard Awesome loud and clear as she continued down the hall and made her way into Chuck's room. All her momentary terror at being discovered and the concern about their cover being blown seemed to escape. With the door closed, Sarah grabbed a pain killer from her bag and laid down onto Chuck's bed relieved. She laughed openly as much as her bruises ribs would allow.

"Rough stuff, huh?" she said to herself, for once she had hoped Casey was listening in because that comment would definitely be worth a *grunt* from the old curmudgeon.


	15. Being Creeped Out By The Visit

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter XV—Being Creeped Out By The Visit**

Chuck knew that his little buddy had had a rough week. Sure, he had likely made a mistake by balking on moving in with Anna and then there was the DEMORGAN, but he could not help but love the guy. Chuck told himself, Han Solo had Chewbacca, BJ had the bear, and . . . . even Taylor had Cornelius. As Chuck sat down next to his friend he said to himself, "Man, you really need to shave your beard because I'm running out of hairy primate friend analogies."

"Oh, hey Chuck," Morgan said softly as he sat up on the sofa, "I stopped the tape when you had to go take care of Sarah. Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's just taking a nap in my room," Chuck responded.

"Dude, you need to go back there and take care of that wonderful beautiful angel babe, because if you don't, before you know it someone else might be moving in . . . Lester, Jeff, or even Skip . . ." Morgan stammered pathetically.

"Skip?" Chuck questioned.

"Yeah, you know Skip's got that huge 65 inches worth of liquid plasma now. What girl could resist that?" Morgan grieved.

"Oh, right Morgan." Chuck said.

"It's like a told you, relationships are built on sex and trust, and in some cases, a really big . . . television," Morgan continued, ". . . and while I might not have the first two anymore, at least we've got Ellie's and Awesome's giant anniversary present all to ourselves now."

"Morgan, now you're really starting to scare me, so why don't we just watch the rest of 'A Nice Place to Visit'?" Chuck said as he hit 'play.' On the television the wayward character demanded:

_I want a million bucks in 5G notes and a chic that won't quit, _

_I mean, I mean like stacked, like beautiful_

"See, stacked chicks who won't quit, now there's something to toast," Morgan sighed and took another drink.

On the television as the character Rocky moved on to a roulette table at a casino, a familiar scene played out in Chuck's head.

_33 black!_

_Hey how about that I win again!_

"It's like I said, always bet on black.'" Chuck said.

"Passenger 57 dude! Good one." Morgan responded lifting up his can of grape soda. Chuck smiled, nodded, and met Morgan's can with his own glass.

As the television character became bored with his personal domain, Chuck and Morgan prepared for the twist at the end. They had both seen the episode dozens of times but it still intrigued them.

_Heaven? Whatever gave you the idea that you were in heaven . . ._

_This is the other place!_

"No kidding," Chuck muttered as the angel of death on the television let out a blood curdling scream.

_A scared angry little man who never got a break. _

_Now he has everything he's ever wanted and he's going to have _

_to live with it for eternity in the Twilight Zone._

"Okay, dude now YOU'RE starting to creep ME out. I think it's time for a little 'instant smile.'" And with that, Morgan went to the fridge to grab another grape soda.


	16. A Newfound Common Interest, Like Music

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter XVI—A Newfound Common Interest, Like Music**

Even from all the way back in his room, Sarah could hear Morgan and Chuck in the living room as they discussed the finer points of yet another episode of the Twilight Zone. Even as weird as the little guy was, Sarah knew that Chuck's friendship with Morgan and his relationship with his sister were the two things that kept Chuck grounded. Without Ellie and Morgan, would Chuck have any real relationships in his life?

Sarah gently laid down on her right side. It had been a long couple of days. As she looked around his room, she grinned at the Tron poster directly in front of her as well as the bongos just above her head. On the nightstand she saw the fake picture of them in the Star Wars outfits, and then she noticed the pink iPod again. She smiled when thought back to their first date and Chuck had asked what bands she was into. Music was definitely an outlet for Chuck; one that she was only just beginning to understand. He had been listening to this iPod that morning when he was sleeping _and dreaming._ There was something about it that had him really, well, worked up. But what?

She scanned through the songs. It did not take long to figure out the overarching theme on the playlist. She clicked on the first song, _Sarah by Starship,_ just long enough to hear the lyrics_:_

_Sarah, Sarah, storms are brewing in your eyes_

_Sarah, Sarah, no time is a good time for goodbyes_

She laughed as much as the bruised ribs on her left side would allow when she heard the lyrics in the next song, _Maniac by Michael Sembello_

_She's a maniac, maniac on the floor _

_And she's dancing like she's never danced before_

This must have been added after their first date when she pulled that under the legs slide move to take out those agents while they danced.

She skipped through the next couple of songs _Don't Make Me A Target _by _Spoon _and _Are You Gonna Be My Girl _by _Jet—_she understood what he was getting at just by reading the names of those tunes. However, she stopped on _Slow Show by The National_. In particular, the final lyrics of that song were haunting:

_You know I dreamed about you_

_for twenty-nine years before I saw you_

_You know I dreamed about you_

_I missed you for twenty-nine years  
_

With that song, she noticed that the tone of the playlist had definitely changed. Although she flipped past _Angels on the Moon _by _Thriving Ivory,_ the next song intrigued her, _I'll Be _by_ Low vs. Diamond _as song played she thought a lot about Chuck's desire to have something real:

_Here, by yourself, heard a sound that you'd been searching for to change your life_

_There, by your side, I was looking for this world that you had somehow tried_

_Then right before my eyes, I felt it_

_My heart was pure and I wanted more _

_So I wait for signs to feel_

_You offered me the chance to see what's real_

_And I wanted all you had_

_So I close my eyes_

_And see things from the past_

_I just laugh and I know, I'll be_

_All these years that I blamed on the world was really me just falling far below_

_And now time, is, of course, looking back, on me and I can't change its course _

_So I wonder how this works _

_I'm telling you my heart is pure _

_And I wanted more_

Sarah understood how important it was for someone like Chuck, who was not officially initiated into the CIA shadows, to have something real. In the spy realm, Sarah had long ago given up on this luxury. It was not that she did not want for such things, it was just not possible in her line of work. Instead, she had settled for trust without belief or reality. As she laid there, she reflected on the value of having something real. She had seen the belief and trust that Chuck shared with those closest to him; she understood his efforts to protect those relationships at all costs. Granted, it was a different type of protection, one that often evaded logic and strategy, but it was nevertheless, _real_. And she wondered if there were some cases that a real bond could serve as a stronger protection mechanism rather than a weakness as she had been taught?

As Sarah continued to think about these things, the next song, _Family Tree _by_ TV on the Radio_ played. She knew that it had been especially hard on Chuck to not share the hardships he had been going through with his sister Ellie. The bond between those two was cemented long ago when they had had to grow up early and support themselves. They had learned to trust and rely on one another when there was no one else. While Sarah knew how important it was to keep Ellie out of the spy world, even she grew tired of the deception and recognized the burden that this deception must be on Chuck. It really must feel like the _Weight of the World _(by_ The Editors_), was bearing down on him at times, she thought. She remembered spending time in his room listening to that song and his comment about the "42 minutes and 15 seconds" that she had not been ready for back then. She looked down at her bag and the gift-wrapped present and smiled.

_For the Girl _by_ The Fratellis_ and _I Want To Be Adored _by_ The Stone Roses_ were next on the playlist but she moved on to the song that followed them: _Ain't I Been Good To You _by_ The Isley Brothers_. She remembered the moment she first heard this song well. In her mind, she could still see Chuck dancing by candlelight in his room. She openly laughed thinking what prong were those moves in the earnest Bartowski seduction technique?

She guessed that it was appropriate that the next song was titled, _If you touch me, I'm going to scream, Part II _by_ My Morning Jacket_. _Fresh Feeling _by_ The Eels_ and _There she goes _by_ The Las_ followed. She thought back to the moment that she kissed him at the docks. Earlier in the day, he had admitted during their game that it was their best kiss. That momentary lapse in her judgment at the docks had changed everything between them. She had shown him something real about her and something real she had felt about him. She looked down at her wrist and sighed. She lamented that a lot of people were going to be hurt by the end of this assignment. The question was had she already hurt him?

The answer came unexpectedly in the next three songs: _Why Do You Let Me Stay Here _by _She and Him, Soon You'll Be Leaving Your Man _by_ Bright Eyes_, and _No One's Gonna Love You _by_ Band of Horses_ played. Bryce. Even Sarah had had difficulty coming to terms with that past relationship. No matter what she did to reassure Chuck and even herself that Bryce was in the past, he always seem to come back into their lives at the most inopportune moments.

_I stand corrected _by_ Vampire Weekend_ played next and reminded her of the argument that she had Chuck had had by his Christmas tree last year. It was unmistakable the difference a year had made in being "friends" with him. She remembered back to the afternoon in front of the Weinerlicious when she had helped Chuck first develop a cover identity when she told him that:

_The idea of a cover is to keep it as simple as possible _

_without revealing true personal detail_

She knew that the longer that she stayed on this assignment, the more difficult she found that it was going to be to keep her cover separate from own her real self. She told herself, she could even use a dose of spy reality. It was so much easier taking out South American dictators or afghani warlords. All she had to do on those missions was get close to the target and take them out. But getting physically close to her target did not leave her emotionally exposed. The longer she lingered here, the more _true personal detail _was invariably going to come out no matter what she did to try and stop it.

_If I Can't Change Your Mind _by_ Sugar_ played and she thought about the lengths that she had been prepared to keep him from being transferred but instead to keep him under her protection detail:

_Tears fill up my eyes_

_I'm washed away with sorrow_

_And somewhere in my mind_

_I know there's no tomorrow_

_I see you're leaving soon_

_I guess you've had your fill_

_But If I can't change your mind then no one will_

_. . . _

_Even though my heart keeps breaking _

_Don't you know that I'll be waiting?_

_Here for you_

_Then when you return_

_When will you return?_

_I hope you see I'm dedicated_

_Look how long that I have waited _

_If you come back then you will find_

_A different person_

_If you change your mind_

She scanned through the next two songs: _You Can Do Better _by_ Death Cab for Cutie _and _Precious Time _by_ The Maccabees_, and thought he had it seriously wrong, he was the one that could do better than her.

While she listened to _Most Beautiful Girl _by_ Flight of the Conchords_, she could not help but laugh. Trying to make the girl laugh was definitely another one of the prongs in the earnest Bartowski seduction technique. She laughed when she thought back to many of her past covers which were included in the song: waitress, stewardess, part-time model, and even a high-class prostitute. After that bit of levity, she was not prepared for the next two songs: _All I Ever Wanted _by_ The Black Keys _and _Skinny Love _by_ Bon Iver_. It brought her back to the wrenching talk that they had out by the fountain.

Thank God for _Tubthumping _by_ Chumbawamba_ she thought as that song came up. She actually knew that song from high school. With the next song, _Jenny Was A Friend of Mine _by _The Killers,_ she knew that Chuck must have added those two songs around the time of her reunion. She also thought back to the time that they spent out back when _Under the Milky Way _by _The Church_ played

_Wish I knew what you were looking for_

_Might have known what you would find_

_And it's something quite peculiar_

_Something shimmering and white_

_Leads you here despite your destination_

_Under the Milky Way tonight_

Sarah understood the meaning placed on the next song: _Giving It All Away _by_ Matt Pond PA_ without having to mention her name. Sarah still felt conflicted about persuading him to reopen that wound. She skipped it and when the next song came on she was glad that she had. _Crown of Love _by_ Arcade Fire_. She knew this song well by now. His intent in including this song at this point could not be mistaken.

_The only thing that you keep changing_

_Is your name, my love keeps growing_

_Still the same, just like a cancer_

_And you won't give me a straight answer_

_If you still want me, please forgive me_

_The crown of love has fallen from me._

_If you still want me, please forgive me_

_Because your hands are not upon me._

The apology was impossible to miss, even though Sarah told herself, he needed not to make one, not to her. Maybe, Sarah thought, this was Chuck's way of trying to forgive himself for trusting that girl.

But then, she noticed a definite shift in the tenor of the songs that followed, one that even surprised her. She smiled and calmly relaxed as these songs played: _I Will Possess Your Heart_ by_ Death Cab For Cutie, Can You Tell _by_ Ra Ra Riot, Crack The Shudders _by_ Snow Patrol, _and _One Day Like This _by_ Elbow._ As she listened, sleep no longer eluded her. It was true, that Christmas at the Bartowskis had 'charmed' and 'heart-warmed' her. As Sarah was resting peacefully and a dream came over her of a moment in the castle not too long ago. Only in the dream there was no 'no relationship with asset rule' in place, it was just the two of them. It was a good dream, one of her favorites.

As she slept peacefully on his bed, Sarah did not notice the latest songs which had been added to the pink ipod. _High & Dry _by_ Radiohead, Your Eyes Are Liars _by_ Sound Team, Answers & Questions _by_ Earlimart,_ and_ Lies by Glen Hansard_ had been added by Chuck when he came home from the Buy More the night before_._ When he had trouble sleeping, he took them off the playlist. And without these songs, the sleeping agent continued blissfully in her dream undisturbed free of any suspicions of lies.


	17. Resistance To The Instant Smile

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter XVII—Resistance To the Instant Smile**

While the sleeping agent rested peacefully in his room, Chuck spent a bit more quality time with his best buddy watching the Twilight Zone while he waited to put Sarah's pajamas in the dryer. Morgan put in the episode 'Number 12 Looks Just Like You.' This classic followed a young girl who was reluctant to look and act like everyone else only in the end to succumb to the transformation that was required by society.

"Okay buddy, this is the last episode for this Christmas, cause it's getting kind of late," Chuck said. As the tape began, they both quoted the beginning as they had done countless times before,

_You unlock this door with the key of imagination,_

_Beyond it is another dimension, a dimension of sound,_

_a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind._

_You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas_

_You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone._

As the episode began,

_I can't decide 8 or 12?_

"Ahhh, the beautiful Suzy Parker, third only to Miss Bettie Page and Irene Demova." Morgan said.

"Tell me you have not been visiting the Demova site since it came back up?" Chuck pleaded.

"No, one case of the Demovas is enough to keep my tail between my legs, but that number 12, Miss Parker, if she had a web-site I'd be a goner." Morgan mumbled as the episode continued,

_What you need is a glass of instant smile!_

"Here, here!" Morgan raised up his grape soda to the television. Chuck grinned and nodded in recognition.

_Just think very soon now and you can look like that!_

"Ahhh, number 8, nice in her own right, but for my money, if I couldn't have number 12, give me number 6 any day because she is fracking hot!!!" Morgan said.

Chuck chuckled at the Cylon reference and followed up, "What is it about guys like us who dig women who can kick butt?"

"I don't know, but I had never been so turned on before until I saw Anna break out the tripod on Mitt's head." Morgan said.

"Morgan, I was talking figuratively, not literally," Chuck tried to convince Morgan as he took a drink.

"Right, Chuck. Sarah is an angel." Morgan said in earnest.

Chuck spit out his drink. "Yes, . . .yes, . . . she is."

_What's so terrible about being beautiful, after all isn't everybody?_

"And as for transformations, your Sarah has always been beautiful." Morgan said.

"Well, there was this awkward picture I saw of her at her high school reunion . . ." Chuck laughed about under his breath. And as the episode continued, Chuck thought back to her reunion and the day that followed when he had told her:

_I guess the big secret is that you used to be a typical high school student, _

_I wish I knew what happened to change that_

Since that time, Chuck had started to see glimpses of the real person underneath this astonishing CIA agent. Unlike the young girl on the television screen, Chuck knew that the real person in his bedroom was still there underneath Sarah Walker, Elana Truffaut, Jenny Burton, Eva Anderson, or whatever identity she had on her person. But without dispute, whatever had happened, had changed her forever. While she was beautiful, smart, and amazing, she was also striking, deadly, and a cold-blooded killer. For his part, Chuck still was not certain that the last part was something he could accept no matter the circumstances.

Then there was also the discomfort in the transformation that he was already seeing in his own self. But that contemplation was for another time.

As the episode drew to a close, Morgan lamented. "I guess the Borg were right . . ."

"Huh?" Chuck asked.

"Dude, Resistance is Futile!" Morgan said sorrowfully and continued, "Well, until that day comes, at least I still have my beard," he smiled.

"Yes, I guess there is always that." Chuck nodded and weakly smiled.

As Chuck saw his buddy off, Morgan had one parting thought, "Still, it was sad to see the girl cave."

"Yeah, buddy, I know what you mean." Chuck said and acknowledged the irony and unintended depth of his friend's realization.


	18. The Present From The Sleeping Beauty

**Chuck v. The Twilight Zone**

_Written by: truthseekr_

**Chapter XVIII—The Present from the Sleeping Beauty**

As Morgan pedaled home, Chuck went to change out the clothes at the Laundromat. He reflected on the day's events. Things went much better than he had thought they would when he had started the day in the bathroom. When he returned to the apartment, he gathered up the videotapes, cups, and dishes. The calm of the quiet apartment put him at peace. After he had straightened up the living room and the kitchen he went back to his room to check on Sarah.

He half-smiled at the sleeping agent on his bed. He could not help but be overcome by the serene look on her face as she slowly breathed in and out in a deep slumber. Yet, he still could not get past the image that was burned in his brain. He knew _who_ Agent Walker was, but he had simply forgotten _what_ she was—an assassin. How had he so easily romanticized her? The answer to that question was easy. He smiled as he was overcome by looking at her lying on his bed at peace.

But as he watched her, he noticed the bruises on her face, forehead, and her swollen lip. She had apparently washed off the cover-up makeup that slyly disguised the wounds on her face. Then he saw for the first time, the deep blue and purple choke-hold bruises on her neck. He had never seen her look so tattered. What had happened to her that caused her to be torn up so brutally? Who did this to her? And why? Those were questions for another time but something came over him that desperately wanted to comfort her in any way that he could. He knew that sleep was best and so he just stood watch over her as she quietly rested and healed.

And has he looked back at the bruises on her neck, he finally understood the purpose of her oh-so-unrevealing flannel pajamas. He knew that she had gone to all of these efforts for him to protect their cover, but the greater part of him had wished that she had told him. Something must have happened? But what? Then he thought back to all the times that day that she had tried to talk to him but her attempts were rebuffed and had fallen away from his woefully deaf ears. He could only guess that she had kept these brutal marks from him because she did not want him to worry about her. That might explain her action in not being truthful last night. The problem was it was all speculation without communication and he felt like kicking himself because he knew better.

He noticed that she was listening to his iPod by the nightstand. _Crown of Love _by _Arcade Fire_ had just cued. He smiled. At the foot of his bed, he noticed her bag where she had left it that morning. Some of the contents had spilled out and he noticed a red foil present with a green bow. The card attached said, "To Chuck." Should he open it? When it came to Christmas presents, Chuck had the discipline of a 4 year old. Even he had given Sarah her present early. The truth was, he had kind of been glad that Ned had held everyone hostage because he could not have thought of a better moment to catch Sarah off-guard. Sarah off-guard, did not happen very often. He remembered what she called the "uncomfortable moment" after she kissed him at the docks. Then there was that kiss in front of Roan. God, she had had to go fix her make-up after it _and_ she had felt something _real_. Chuck told himself, he could even stomach the unpleasant off-guard moments as he thought back to the day he broke up with her at the Weinerlicious and then there was the self-inflicted torture that was the night outside at the fountain. Heck, with it, he decided to open the package. What would be the harm? Wait, he thought, this present was from the woman who put a knife into her alarm clock for its offending behavior. And he definitely had not forgotten the pencil that she had harpooned into the picture of him not too long ago.

But he had to know what it was. His efforts at putting the present up to the light or shaking it had not revealed any details. He decided to carefully open just one end. He immediately recognized it as something he physically already had. But it was not what the present physically was that took him back. It was what it represented. She had gotten him _Funeral. Arcade Fire's _first album. He remembered back to over a year ago in his room when he asked her to stay for a while as part of their cover—42 minutes and 15 seconds to be exact. He smiled and looked at the injured woman before him as she laid there sleeping peacefully on his bed. He remembered back when he had told her that she was not ready for it. And here she was telling him that she was now ready.

Only one question, remained as sunset on Christmas at the Bartowski's. In light of everything that has happened over the last 24 hours was Chuck ready to share this next step with her?

The End


End file.
